Chris Barth

Album Review: ScHoolboy Q – Habits & Contradictions

It would be difficult to come up with a better title for ScHoolboy Q’s second album, Habits & Contradictions. It’s a calming album at times, but leaves the listener’s pulse racing, even after 17 tracks and over an hour of music.

Album Review: James Blake – Enough Thunder EP

Enough Thunder is not Blake’s most dynamic or genre-defying work, but neither is it a definitive statement of what is to come. Instead, it is a snapshot of a period of his creativity, a peek into his sketchbook.

Album Review: Das Racist – Relax

Das Racist’s first official album, Relax, is challenging, but it tries your expectations, not your attention span.

Album Review: St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

Strange Mercy is Clark’s most whole, poignant work to date. It’s an exciting evolution for St. Vincent’s sound — a visceral album full of beauty and chaos. And, perhaps most exciting, it sounds like Annie Clark is still just beginning.

Album Review: Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV

There was a point in time when Lil Wayne was untouchable. He could spin syrupy bars about being a Martian and somehow sound believable.

ALBUM REVIEW: Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne

Welcome to a shot at legacy. A stab at doing something different and, in doing so, rekindling the hunger that can so often be sated by success. Welcome to Watch the Throne.

ALBUM REVIEW: Moonface – Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped

It seems almost obligatory to comment on how Spencer Krug plays in a bunch of bands (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake, Frog Eyes, etc). His penchant for projects was established…

ALBUM REVIEW: MellowHype – BlackenedWhite

The re-release of MellowHype’s BlackenedWhite is a bite-sized trip across the surface of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, an accessible introduction to the rap collective’s abrasive and transfixing style.

ALBUM REVIEW: Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver

There’s a paradox in the lyrics of Bon Iver’s sophomore release, the self-titled Bon Iver, Bon Iver – a puzzling balance of poetry and nonsense. Also: Full Album Stream and Vinyl + CD Giveaway.

ALBUM REVIEW: Cults – Cults

This is a summertime pop gem that is both brief and breezy. Cults can – and will – spin on repeat for many a sun-baked afternoon. Also: CD + Vinyl LP Giveaway and Full Album Stream.

ALBUM REVIEW: Tyler, The Creator – GOBLIN

Our review of the first ever label-backed Odd Future release, Tyler The Creator’s Goblin. Also: Vinyl LP and CD Giveaway.

ALBUM REVIEW: The Antlers – Burst Apart

Our review of the Antlers’ Burst Apart, the follow-up to 2009′s much-loved Hospice. Also: check out the full album stream and vinyl LP and CD giveaway.

ALBUM REVIEW: Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part 2

On Hot Sauce, the Beastie Boys fully embrace their position among hip hop’s elder statesmen. “My rhymes age like wine as I get older/I’m getting bolder…

ALBUM REVIEW: tUnE-yArDs – WHOKILL

Also: Full Album Stream and Vinyl LP + CD Giveaway.

ALBUM REVIEW: TV On The Radio – Nine Types of Light

We’re also giving away “Nine Types of Light” on Vinyl and CD as well as a TV on the Radio T-Shirt.

ALBUM REVIEW: Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong

D+ | 3.29.11 | GIVEAWAY | STREAM | MOG | AMAZON | INSOUND It’s no surprise that Flood and Alan Moulder found themselves sharing a studio with The Pains of…

ALBUM REVIEW: Radiohead – The King of Limbs

A- | TBD | 3.29.11 | GIVEAWAY | STREAM | MOG | AMAZON | INSOUND How do you review a Radiohead album? There’s a sense of insignificance in trying to…

ALBUM REVIEW: Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise

ALBUM REVIEW: Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx – We’re New Here

B- | XL | 2.22.11 | MOG | AMAZON | INSOUND On “I’ve Been Me,” the penultimate track of Gil Scott-Heron’s fantastic 2010 album I’m New Here, he states it…

ALBUM REVIEW: Yuck – Yuck

B- | FAT POSSUM | 2.15.11 | MOG | AMAZON | INSOUND There’s a cool phenomenon -– one that has always existed but is magnified by the role the internet…

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